Wolfen
by Lightningfall
Summary: What if there was something you didn't know about Cybertron? What if there were not two races in war... but three? Storm is part of this mysterious third race. This is her story. A story of love, and of hate. Of murder and of revival. Of life and death...
1. Prologue: Wolfen!

**So, I'll just go ahead and say it here, and this applies to all further chapters as well. I own not Transformers. I do, however, own all three DVD copies :3**

* * *

**Prologue:**

"**Wolfen!"**

Grumbling under his breath, Ratchet finished the last weld on Mudflap's armor. Mudflap looked at him with wide blue optics that had a questioning expression.

"You're finished. And if I ever catch you screwing with Bumblebee's voice quadrant again, I'll weld your afts to the ceiling and see how you like getting down by yourself!" Ratchet yelled, causing Mudflap to leap off of the berth and swing out of the doorway.

The medic set down his instruments and sighed. Oh, what he had to deal with these days. Just as he sat down, he got a comm. from Jolt.

**:Ratchet! I need your help!:**

**:What's going on, Jolt? I just finished with that idiot twin and sat down!:**

**:There's a… well… you'd better see for yourself…:** Ratchet's sigh sent static through the link.

**:Fine. I'm on my way. This'd better be good, Jolt. Ratchet out.:** He growled to himself and got up. Crossing his arms, he strode to the coordinates where Jolt's comm. had originated. What met his optics there, he would not forget for the rest of his life.

There stood Jolt in a corner, whips out, optics rather wide. He was facing a large black wolf, who had blood on it's face and it's claws. There was nothing too strange about this, except that the wolf was easily seven feet at the shoulders, and had two large bird-like wings attached to it's back. The wolf's claws were stretched; Ratchet estimated their length to be at least three inches. The wolf had green eyes, and as it snarled loudly, Ratchet got a full view of it's long fangs. At least two and a half inches, he said to himself. Strong, lean muscles under the wolf's pelt suggested it was capable of the scratches along Jolt's midsection.

Jolt glanced at him with an expression of worry and (very) slight fear. Ratchet un-subspaced the syringe that he always carried with him for the humans; treading carefully, he crept up behind the wolf. He readied the hypodermic item and the tranquilizer inside it. Jolt looked at Ratchet nervously as the older medic stepped forward. The wolf's ears twitched and she (Ratchet sensed it was a she) leaped for him. The medic-bot plunged the needle into her shoulder, and the fast acting sedative took effect. The wolf collapsed on top of Ratchet, who had let himself fall. He glared at Jolt.

"You have some explaining to do."

After Jolt had explained and apologized profusely for trying to tame the wolf and treat her broken leg, Ratchet took her to the medbay. Sighing heavily, he scanned the wolf grudgingly. What he found made him stop dead. Giving the wolf a suspicious look, he scanned her again. And again.

"Impossible. They went extinct millennia ago." He said to himself. At that moment, Jolt walked in. The blue medic apprentice looked at his mentor.

"What?" He asked in confusion. Ratchet turned.

"My scans are telling me that this is not any normal wolf. Obviously, she was some sort of hybrid, because of her wings…" He gestured to said winged wolf, who was strapped to the table. "…But I never suspected her to be what she apparently is." The yellow-green medic scowled.

"What is she, then?" Jolt inquired as he ran a short scan of his own. "And why does she have a Cybertronian spark?" Pausing in his scans, Ratchet sighed softly. He gestured for Jolt to sit on the empty berth as he sat in his work chair. As Jolt sat down, Ratchet cleared his processor and vented his cooling systems.

"Once, in Cybertron's peak years, there was a different species. One just as intelligent as us. They did not follow under the rules of our race, or the Decepticons. They governed themselves in packs, much like Earth's wolf species. In fact, they even had some of the attributes of wolves, save that they walked on two legs. They had armor, like us, and had the ability to shapeshift. It is almost like our power to transform, but at a much higher level." Ratchet's grating voice echoed around the room as he spoke softly. Jolt strained his audio receptors to hear the next bit of Ratchet's story.

"We knew of their existence on Cybertron, and a few of us even managed to befriend them." With this statement, Ratchet's optics clouded. He blinked rapidly and continued.

"After the war started, I lost contact with my pack-friends. Yes, I was rather fond of a pack of them." He sighed.

"I cared for them in times of need and showed them forms of medicine. Once we left for Earth in search of the Allspark, I gave up hope that they survived. The Decepticons, I thought, would have either taken them as slaves or slaughtered them. A few of them must have escaped, and made it here." At this, Jolt frowned.

"But this is an organic being, how is it Cybertronian in nature?" He asked in confusion. Ratchet looked at him, his optics brighter than normal.

"Like I said, they have the power of shapeshifting. They can… well, transform, into whatever they wish. This also means that they have no true gender, but most picked their preferred sex and stuck with it. Now, this may have changed, I do not know their situation here on Earth." He explained patiently. Although he was rather irritable in nature, when talking to Jolt or one of his other close friends, like Ironhide, he calmed and became very tolerant. Jolt nodded, still slightly confused.

The wolf stirred. Her eyes flew open, the deep forest green flickering with an inner fire as strong as a dragon's. She struggled against the bonds that held her down, flaring her nostrils. Ratchet watched her warily as he stood and paced to her side. She stared up at him with anger as she bared her teeth and snarled loudly. Jolt gasped softly as smoke began to wisp from the wolf's nostrils. Ratchet glanced at him, amused.

"Did I forget to mention? Wolfens breathe fire." A burst of blue and red flame exploded from the wolf's mouth and flared just alongside Ratchet's side. He calmly tranquilized the wolf again and watched as she fell back, unconscious.


	2. Chapter 1: The Robots

**Chapter One:**

**The Robots**

I woke, groggy from the second shot. That Primus-slagged automaton had no idea what he was messing with. Once I got off of this fragging table…

I knew that the metal holding me on the berth was too hard for these organic teeth to chew through, and shifting in this position would wreak havoc on my body. There was no sign of the large Cybertronian that had tranquilized me, although I almost wished there was. That blue one, too. _He_ deserved what he had coming to him, once I got my claws on that stupid armor of his. He wouldn't bear those scratches for long, and I wanted to give him some that he wouldn't forget in a hurry.

The door whooshed open quietly and I pricked my ears. My highly sensitive audio receptors picked up the thumps of a large Cybertronian. A moment later, I got a whiff of it. I narrowed my eyes and inhaled again. It couldn't be…

Ratchet strode towards me and glared down into my eyes. He crossed his arms and sat on his rolling chair, which he had left beside my berth.

"Don't think I don't recognize you, Storm. I remember you from when you were still young. You made a mistake, leaping on me like that." He said quietly as I squinted past the light shining in my eyes. He reached over and switched it off as he sat back.

"Ratchet." I said simply. My organic form did not speak well, so my Cybertronian was mangled, broken. I growled at the prospect. The medic in front of me blinked at the sound of his name.

"Let me up." I growled. He nodded shortly and stood, keying in a code on the data-pad attached to the berth. I filed the memory of that code for later use as the bonds holding me down unclasped, and I rolled on the floor. I hissed loudly as I hit my sore (but healed) back leg, and decided to revert to my natural form. I shook my organic appearance off, the fur flaking away in clots to reveal my dark gray armor as I reared up, my legs popping into their natural positions. My shoulders slid backward, pushing my wings with them as the feathers shed their macrobiotic attributes. The organic coating peeled away from my armor like the scales of a fish, and my true form shone through the Earthy filth. I resembled a metal anthromorphic wolf now, but with wings. Stretching up, I looked Ratchet in the eye, folding my wings to my back and waving my tail for balance. Yawning, I sat on the berth, shaking my wolf-like head violently to rid myself of any remaining fleshy rubbish. My claws clicked on the metal as I stretched my fingers out for the first time in decades. My hands were like a human's, with slender fingers and finger-claws. My feet looked nothing like a human's, though, as they resembled wolf paws. That would be one enormous wolf, though. My tail still looked like my wolf form's, except for the fact that it was metal and a bit longer.

I flicked my ears at Ratchet, asking him a silent question. Why was I here? He narrowed his optics after clearing his (slightly) impressed expression. I watched my old organic coating shrivel to dust as I waited patiently for my explanation.

"Jolt, my apprentice, decided to try and treat your broken leg. He did not know what you were at the time. Don't worry though, I explained it to him. You Wolfens are thought to be extinct, you know." He explained shortly. I raised an optic ridge. My flesh-covering on my eyes had burned away from the heat of my optics as I changed, and their green light shone brightly.

"Extinct? Like the dinosaurs on Earth?" I asked. He smiled painfully.

"You've done your research, I see. Yes, like the dinosaurs on Earth. How many survived?" He asked of me. I stretched my legs out in front of me, enjoying the stretch of my wires and cables. Crossing my arms, I responded.

"Total; about a hundred of us made it to Earth, give or take a few. We were all from different packs, however, and formed cliques that eventually split off to who-knows where." Sighing sadly, I remembered the horror of the war. I had organized the remaining Wolfens in the aftermath and led them to Earth. I had scanned a wolf upon landing, and we had all shifted to the fleshy form. The dead were buried deep underground, and the rest of us scattered. Ratchet's voice broke through my melancholy thoughts.

"I'm sorry." He said. I snorted, smoke puffing from my nose.

"No you're not." I replied. "You're never sorry." I accused him quietly. He shuttered his optics.

"Let's put the past behind us, Storm. Did any of your pack survive?" He replied with a sigh.

"No." I replied simply, shuttering my own optics, for I could not look him in the eye. The lie slipped easily from my mouth. Ratchet looked at me, I could sense his gaze.

"That's painful. You're done here, feel free to roam about the base." He said. I got up and strode through the doors, but not before looking back.

"You may not want to confine me to your base. Someone will get seriously hurt." I growled at him. He simply shrugged. I snorted and stalked off.

I'd had to scare directions to the Prime out of some younger Autobots, and after threatening to send them to Ratchet, trotted off to meet Optimus. As I reached his room, I recalled an image of him; a young adult when I had seen him last. I knocked on his door, and stepped back, as was polite.

"Who calls?" A deep voice sounded.

"Storm Nightshade, Alpha leader of the Epsilon pack, sir." I reported like my beta deputy, Ashclaw. I had insisted he call me sir, as was the Wolfen custom.

"Come in. Ratchet reported you were here." The door opened and I stepped inside. Saluting, I realized it had been many years since I had been in the presence of a superior or equal. Chuckling, the Prime gestured for me to sit. As he was already sitting, I let myself relax enough to take a seat; although my ears were still pricked and my tail still twitching slightly.

"I see you have a soldier's heart in you. Relax." He commanded. I tried to still my tail, but to no avail. I was too tense to relax.

"The surroundings are unfamiliar sir, it is my nature to remain alert." I stated, expressionless. He nodded simply.

"What brings you here, Storm Nightshade?" He asked. I flicked my ears.

"Just curious to see how you turned out. Last I saw you, you were still young." I stated. I considered myself equal to him as representative of the Wolfen race… or what was left of us. His optics flashed at my words.

"I do not recall you." He said. I laughed freely.

"I was Ratchet's pack-friend. You were with him while I was visiting many times." I chuckled and he frowned.

"I see. Is that all?" He inquired. I snorted.

"Mostly. Ratchet tried to confine me to the base. Am I free to do as I please?" I worded my question carefully, hoping that he agreed. If he did, I could do whatever I wanted. Then I'd give that fool apprentice of Ratchet's a lesson before returning to my pack.

"You are free to do what you please, Storm Nightshade. Dismissed." I stood and whooshed out of the door, pleased. That young idiot Jolt would get what he deserved and I would return to my base.

Stretching my wings, I retrieved scent information and tracked Jolt down. Finding him in a room that was only mildly occupied, I stalked over to his side.

"Hello Jolt, remember me?" I asked in a low growl. He jumped and spun as the Autobot he was talking to aimed his gun at me.

"Now Mirage, is that any way to treat a friend?" I asked him, still staring at Jolt.

"Who are you?" The blue medic asked with narrowed optics. I laughed deep in my throat, producing a choking growl.

"You don't remember me? I bared my sharp silver teeth and laid my ears back, mimicking the expression I'd wore when Ratchet first came upon us, fighting like two apprentices over the last piece of fresh kill. Once we Wolfens had taken on organic attributes, they stayed with us, including the ability to digest fleshy, organic, Earthly foods. I had tested that myself when we first landed.

Jolt narrowed his optics. I grinned, showing more of my sharp teeth. Mirage watched me, his gun still aimed.

"You can't be that wolf. That's impossible." He said. I smiled.

"I see you've forgotten my race already." I said with scorn. Flexing my claws, I admired their shine. I glanced at Jolt's midsection, grinning. He backed away slowly.

Whipping faster than the average rate of reaction in Jolt, I scored my claws deeply across his stomach area. Energon flowed out after I hit a vein and I withdrew. He hissed in pain, but I was gone, gone, gone away into the halls. I ran rather fast, faster than a mouse from a cat's claws. Sideswipe was faster than me, but I would have a large headstart. I crashed through the base door and spread my wings. Leaping into the air, I laughed. My work there was done. I had no need to stay. I heard the pow of guns firing after me, but I was too far gone now. No one could catch me. I fired the thrusters in my ankles that I had installed, and I was off towards the base.

Landing in a hollow in the middle of a forest in a part of Earth known as California, I sent a poof of dirt flying. We were located in a place where huge organic plants called trees grew. I sensed them to be several hundred years old, and they were large enough to hide us quite well. The rest of my pack looked up at me. I called out to them in our Wolfen language.

"You are free to shift; there are other Cybertronians on Earth. Many humans know about them, from what I understand." I stated from my position on a tree that we had felled. Watching proudly as my pack shook off their filthy forms, I saw the look of relief on their faces. Ashclaw, my beta deputy, strode towards me.

"What does this mean for us, these other Cybertronians?" His tenor voice rumbled quietly in my ear. I turned to him.

"We will stay hidden. They are still at war; I was with the Autobots. I had fallen and broken my leg during my scouting for signs of battle. A medic found me and brought me back, intending to treat my wounds, but mistook me for a fleshly creature. I found Ratchet-" I informed him, but was cut off by his low, loud growl.

"Ratchet?" He muttered. I nodded unhappily.

"Yes, but anyway. I repaid the favor he did me to his apprentice, but only in part. I trust you have kept good care of my Wolfens?" I asked him. He nodded. I nodded back in satisfaction. Motioning him to the others, I flicked my ears at my sparkmate, Brilyant. He smiled at me and I nodded back, but returned to addressing my pack.

"Carry on as you were. Ashclaw will fill you in." I announced before leaping from my position on the tree. It had fallen onto a large outcropping from the hollow, and I used it for pack meetings and such. One of our mothers, Elaina, walked up to me.

"What about the war? My pups will not be safe…" She fretted. I smiled reassuringly. Her pups had been born only about a year and a half earlier, and although they did not require their mother's care, she fretted like they were newborns. They were ready to begin their training; our pups grew faster than any other Cybertronian.

"They will be safe. You know I will fight to the death to keep this pack safe, do you not?" I reassured her softly. She nodded, satisfied, and returned to the mother's cave-hole we had dug out of the sides of our base. The base was sunken in at least forty feet from the ground, and was oval in shape. We had found the beginnings of it when we landed, and we simply dug it out to form this hole. We gave it sharp drops and caves for us to stay in, and had supported it with smaller trees that we had planted along the sides and in the entrances to the caverns we slept in.

Gears and Fang peeked out of the cave's darkness and squealed with joy as they saw me. Running to me, they fluttered their almost-fully developed wings and jumped on me. I let myself fall backwards, laughing. I was always at ease with the younger Wolfens. They scrambled onto me and sat on my chest plates. Grinning wildly, Fang spoke.

"We caught our first deer yesterday!" He said proudly. I reached up and tickled him while praising him.

"Well done! You'll be a fine hunter!" I said as he giggled and rolled off, trotting to his mother. Gears still sat on me, his ears twitching with excitement.

"I breathed fire earlier!" He said smugly as he grinned. I smiled.

"Good job! You may grow up to be just like Ashclaw if you keep at it! Just don't burn down the base…" I said mischievously and picked him up, tossing and catching him with my hands and feet. He squealed with excitement and I let him go. He scampered back to the scolding of his mother and I watched fondly. Brilyant walked up behind me, hugging me from behind as I sighed wishfully. I'd always wanted pups, but with the war and being Alpha pack leader… I had no time to raise them. If Brilyant wasn't my Beta pack leader, we may have considered it.

"I know." He whispered into my ear softly. I detected the same trace of wistfulness in his voice as the golden-yellow Wolfen let me go. I turned to face him.

"We need to start Gears and Fang's training." I said, banishing my thoughts of pups. He nodded.

"I'll call Ashclaw, if you want." He offered. I nodded.

"Bring him to my den, if you would." I said with a glance at the cave under the base tree. He nodded and scanned the crowd of the pack, flicking his tail. I paced to my den, deep in thought. I wanted to train Fang, to be a mentor for him, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. I already knew who was training Gears, Flareshock would have that job. She was young, yes, but the rustic red-armored Wolfen was up for the job. There was a pinging noise as Ashclaw flicked the rock embedded in the wall. I looked up from my cross-legged position and nodded for him to sit down. Brilyant stepped forward and sat in front of me to the right.

"It is time to discuss Gears and Fang's mentors." I stated. They nodded and Brilyant gave me a look that said, 'well no duh'. I glared back at him, not in the mood for sarcasm. Ashclaw spoke up.

"All three of us know that Flareshock is training Gears, but who's training Fang?" He asked. I saw a gleam of ambition in his eyes. Although he was a good Alpha deputy, he could be assuming and arrogant at times. I gave him a deadpan stare.

"Not you." I said, unable to keep a soft growl from entering my voice. He looked at the ground and Brilyant smiled. He had never really been fond of Ashclaw. I detected a hiss of jealousy directed at Brilyant and snapped my jaws together.

"Sparklings," I snarled at them irritatedly. "We are not in a candid discussion about the stores of high grade, we are in a serious conversation that decides the fate of four Wolfens and the whole pack!"

"High grade does affect the whole pack…" Brilyant spoke up. I glared at him. For a highly intelligent race, these two could be so stupid. Ashclaw snorted in derision. Growling loudly, I held back the acid-like fluid that created my flame.

"Both of you, out. Now. I'll decide his mentor on my own then." Brilyant pricked his ears at my tone and darted out. Ashclaw was a bit more reluctant, but I sent him off with a hiss and burst of fire. It seemed that my time away had given him too much ambition… I could even detect stale odors of him in my den. I growled lowly.

"_I'll_ mentor Fang… and ask Ashclaw to step down."


End file.
